It's that time of year again: classical record labels have started
releasing a plethora of box sets to tempt you in your Christmas shopping.
With sets of dozens of CDs costing what only a few discs set you back
ten years ago, how can you resist? It's tempting to buy some of these
to fill in gaps in your collection. Others may contain many items
that you've long wanted. It's hard to decide which to buy, with so
many bargain-priced sets around.

Adding to the temptation this year is Harmonia Mundi's Opéra
baroque: 39 CDs, 3 DVDs and one CD-ROM with sung texts. Divided
into groups by country, this set contains music from Italy, France,
England and Germany. There are seventeen complete operas ranging in
length from single-CD works like Dido and Aeneas to three-disc
operas, such as Handel's Rinaldo or Rameau's Les Indes Galantes.
Two are on DVD: Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Handel's Giulio
Cesare. All this for roughly what I paid for one of these three-disc
operas ten years ago.

It's fair to say that Harmonia Mundi has one of the finest catalogues
of baroque opera, with an extraordinary roster of musicians and conductors.
This collection highlights the work of William Christie and René
Jacobs, the label's most prolific conductors, and has a list of soloists
that includes Andreas Scholl, Sandrine Piau, Mark Padmore, Lorraine
Hunt, Werner Gura, Simon Keenlyside, Lynne Dawson and many others.

Each country's selection of works is grouped with a small booklet
discussing the works featured. While there are some high-profile works
in this set - Lully's Atys, Handel's Rinaldo, Purcell's
Dido and Aeneas - there are also some works that may be new
to many listeners. These include Keiser's Croesus, Scarlatti's
La Griselda, Telemann's Orpheus and Campra's Idoménée.

I've had great pleasure dipping into this set. While I already own
about one third of the recordings, there are many that I wasn't familiar
with, making this a delightful discovery. At less than £60,
it's a steal; and it's a limited edition, so make up your mind quickly.

My only criticism relates to the packaging. Back in the early days
of big box sets, these packages were designed to look imposing. They
had big jewel cases and took up a lot of space. In recent years, most
labels have released big sets with simple cardboard sleeves to save
space. Harmonia Mundi has opted here for digipacks, which more than
double the amount of space these discs would have taken up had simpler
sleeves been used. The content could easily fit in one of those now-common
cube-shaped boxes.

Now that many of us own a lot of box sets, it's a bit irksome to have
another one that's so big. However, if you're buying it as a gift
for someone, it will take up a lot of space under the tree.

Harmonia Mundi should be congratulated for this set. At a bargain
price, it features some of the staples of baroque opera, along with
a number of recordings that have been long out of print. As a primer,
to those new to the genre, it's a perfect way to discover the richness
of the baroque stage. For collectors, it's a great way to fill in
gaps in a collection. For anyone, it's a wonderful box-full containing
more than 45 hours of musical surprises. Don't miss out on this one.

Kirk McElhearnKirk McElhearn writes about more than just music on his blog Kirkville.